Voodoo! The Tale of Vince and Skipper
by Eternally Ebony
Summary: In New Orleans for a few weeks, the team is captured by a crazy wanna-be magician name Kosmo the Inscrutable. It's up to Skipper, along with a new, very unexpected ally, to save them and stop Kosmo!
1. Welcome to New Orleans!

**Disclaimer: PoM and VV (Voodoo Vince) do not belong to me.**

**New story! Like Devil's Arms, this is based around a video game. Unlike Devil's Arms, where I expected at least ONE person to have heard of the game, I know none of you have heard of this one: Voodoo Vince.**

"But I don't get it," Alice looked down through the gaping hole in the middle of the Central Park Zoo, where pipes were randomly twisted and bent out of shape. It was almost as if something had exploded out of the ground, "What on Earth caused a mess like this?"

Behind her, four penguins glanced at each other nervously, all recollecting that specific event. The rats, as always, had been causing problems for the zoo inhabitants. One slight miscalculation while trying to flush them out of their hideaway, and the underground sewers had gone, as Rico oh so delicately put it, 'Kaboom!'. Actually, Kowalski had mentioned that they had been lucky; that the entire sewer system could have blown up. Still, a large gaping hole in the center of the zoo was not a good way to keep their secrets under wraps.

"Yup, it's going to take days, maybe weeks to repair," Replied the man next to Alice, "I'd get all the animals transferred outta here before they catch some kinda sewer disease."

Alice scowled in her usual fashion, "There is no such thing as a 'sewer disease'," She then set her stare on the animals around them, and her glare softened ever so slightly, "but you're right, I should get them outta here. The boss'll kill me if I don't," Alice grabbed the walkie-talkie out of her back pocket, switched it on, and spoke to her co-worker, "Hey, we need some crates! All the animals gotta go, soon! ..Yes, it's an emergency. There's a hole in the middle of the zoo!"

As Alice argued with her co-worker, a nervous young penguin turned to a slightly taller one, "Did you hear that, Skippah? They're going to ship us off to some place!" The younger penguin was genuinely frightened by the prospect of being shipped off to some foreign zoo where he didn't know anyone. The Skipper chuckled at the young one's naïve concern.

"Relax young Private, there's no need for panic," He placed his flipper reassuringly on the other's shoulders, "We worked out this specific scenario a few dozen times. Kowalski!" He suddenly barked, "Scenario twenty-five delta!"

"Right, in case of emergency hole blown in the middle of the zoo while flushing out bad guys," Kowalski jabbed his elbow into the last penguin, Rico's, guts. The scarred penguin regurgitated a blueprint, which Kowalski spread out on the ground, and explained what each of his strange drawing represented while pointing to them, "First, the whole will be discovered by a zoo worker, presumably Alice. Soon afterwords, all the animals will be transferred to pre-appointed zoos. With the chimps help, all the animals got to choose where they'll go. We penguins will be transferred here, to the New Orleans French Quarter Animal Observatory. It gets little business and Rico has connections there," Rico grinned.

Private looked towards Skipper, hoping for some sort of reassurance. The older penguin smiled, "Relax, it'll only be for a few weeks or so. Besides, don't you wanna see the... the stuff in the French Quarter," Skipper grinned unconvincingly. Private raised his eyebrow, skeptical.

It took several different pleas, but Private finally relented, "Well, alright, I guess it won't be so bad... just what is the French Quarter, anyway?"

"Ya know," Skipper blinked, "I don't really know..."

* * *

Several hours later, a truck traveling down a road his a particularly large bump. Everything in it's hold was tossed up, including one crate marked fragile. Within it, Skipper and the other penguins were tossed up and dropped down, forcing the penguin awake. He turned to his teammates, whom were apparently still asleep, "Everyone asleep?" He asked, mostly to make sure.

Private turned over and sat up, looking at Skipper, "You're awake too? I can't fall asleep."

"You always were a light sleeper," Skipper noted, stroking his chin. Glancing back at his teammate, he saw red-rimmed and droopy eyes staring lazily at him, "You should try to get some sleep, though. We don't know what we're gonna face when we get there."

"I know," Private sighed, rubbing his tired eyes, "It's hard to get sleep on this thing, though."

"Yeah," Skipper looked up, "That's why I'm awake right now," Upon noticing the younger one's worry, he smiled wholeheartedly and patted his shoulder reassuringly, "Don't you worry, young Private, everything's gonna be just fine."

"Promise?"

"I promise," Skipper smiled gently, "and if that promise is broken, I promise to fix whatever mess we get into, alright?"

Private smiled back, "Alright," and curled up, "Goodnight Skippah," Not long after this, the Private was fast asleep, gently mumbling in his British accent.

"Goodnight, Private," Skipper turned onto his side, and felt the warm embrace of sleep come over him. Without particularly realizing it, he closed his eyes, and sleep was soon upon him.

* * *

They had arrived by the time the team woke up.

When Skipper opened his eyes, he found himself in a big white room. At first he panicked (what if they have NEEDLES?) before realizing that this was just a routine check-up by the doctors here. He relaxed ever so slightly. After all their poking and prodding was done, Skipper was placed in an icy exhibit with no other visible penguins. Minus his team, of course, who were all waiting for him.

"This place feels so... empty," Private noted, "It's like no one else lives here."

Kowalski looked over some notes, "According to my questioning of the neighbors, the old penguins got shipped off for as long as we're hear to make room for us. Apparently my plans were inconvenient for the zoo," His expression turned angry, "Well, SORRY for being inconvenient!"

"Anyways..." Skipper didn't even roll his eyes at Kowalski's behavior. At this point, he was far past used to it, "We're going to be doing a patrol of the city tonight. Need to scope out the area and know just who and what we're dealing with."

Private spoke up, "And if there's nothing to deal with?"

"Consider this a vacation, then," The tone of the commander's voice was flat, "but we do have to do the recon. And no, we can't blow anything suspicious up," Rico groaned, swallowing the already halfway regurgitated dynamite. This disturbed none of the others. They were used to it, "Once this place closes, we'll head out on the town," Skipper confirmed, "Until then," At that point the door opened and a few people came in. Skipper smiled, "Smile and wave, boys. Just smile and wave..."

* * *

That night, the group broke out of the observatory. It wasn't hard at all, with Kowalski shutting down the cameras and Rico picking the locks. Confident, Skipper lead the team down the cobbled streets of the New Orleans French Quarter. Private stood to his left, Kowalski to his right, and Rico just behind them. Skipper took a deep breath, "Hmm... nothing like a good stroll through the town to get you opened up to it, eh boys?"

"Right-o, Skippah," Private agreed, then frowned, "Um, what exactly are we supposed to be looking for?"

Skipper turned to him, eyes peeled for danger (not literally), "We're looking for anything suspicious," He announced. Private looked unimpressed.

"Well, that's unspecific," Private remarked. Skipper glared at him.

"Oh?" He stared coldly, "I don't like that tone, mister."

Private frowned, "Look, I'm just trying to say that not everywhere is full of danger like New York. Maybe we should just let bygones be bygones and go back to the Observatory," Private suddenly found anger, and stood tall, "You know, be normal for once?"

"You know as well as I do that we are not normal. If you think like that," A bitter, angry emotion settled into him, "then maybe you shouldn't be apart of this team!" Kowalski and Rico gasped. Private bit back his sadness at the leader's choice of words.

"Well, maybe I shouldn't!" He got on his toes, staring into the face of Skipper. A sudden crash knocked them both out of their sudden anger. Kowalski and Rico had already begun moving in the direction of the crash. Skipper and Private followed behind. The window of a simple shop on the old cobbled street had been broken. Private gasped at the two men inside, "They're trying to steal something!"

Skipper smirked at him, "What did I tell you?" Private looked away as Skipper gave orders, "Move in, men! Don't let them escape, no matter what!" The penguins moved into the store as the two men used a blowtorch to open a glass. They smirked at each other.

"Well done, fingers!" One of them stated.

"Not a problem, Jeb, but we've gotta make sure it's actually in there."

"Right," The one called 'Jeb' opened the bag at the exact time Rico had attempted to tackle him from above. A magical mist sprouted up from the bag and hit Rico, who faded into oblivion. The thieves hadn't even noticed the penguin.

Private gasped, "Rico!" and the whole team sprang into action. Random objects started rising, creating a tornado of inanimate things throughout the room. Along with this were random spouts of light flying around the room. Skipper noticed one hit a doll atop the bookcase, but didn't give it much thought. At that moment, a woman appeared from behind a wall. Whether or not she just got there or had been there the whole time was completely unknown.

"So," She stared, unimpressed, at the intruders, ignoring the penguins, "It's Kosmo's henchman. Come to steal the secret of my zombie dust," Her eyes glistened with unspoken power, Skipper noticed, as she spoke, "You know not what you're dealing with! There is great danger- oof!" She was cut off as a chair hit her, knocking her out cold. Kowalski started hyperventilating, obviously in shock.

"This isn't happening," He repeated over and over again to himself, as though the whole thing would fade like a dream, "This isn't happening, this isn't happening, this isn't- aah!" He was cut off as another spout of light hit him, knocking him into a wall. He vanished as Rico did.

Skipper gasped, "Kowalski!" Then stared in anger at the two cowering men whom caused all this. Private, next to him, also took a defensive stance against them. Private and Skipper both ran towards the goons, ready to fight. Ducking underneath chairs and other random things, they managed to get to the men, who were beginning to stand up, and knocked them down. One of them, mostly out of fear, opened the bag again, sending another burst of light towards Skipper. He gasped as he was knocked away, underneath a desk. Faintly, he could also see Private fighting off the men alone. The magic stopped. Everything fell. Unfortunately, one of these things was a heavy book, which fell right on top of Private.

Private was knocked out cold. One of the men grabbed Private, the other the mysterious woman. The duo walked outside and loaded them into the truck they had brought. By the time they were inside, the woman had woken up, realized she couldn't fight back, and sighed. Private was still unconscious.

Back in the shop, Skipper, with faded vision, saw everything. His last thought was, _"No..."_ before he passed out...

**The argument was OOC, so I'm gonna explain it now: the zombie dust had created magic as it's owner, the woman, sensed danger. That magic made Skipper and Private inexplicably angry. Kowalski and Rico were lucky enough to be just outside the magic's range. If you don't like that... tough, cause I've got nothing better.**

**Next Chapter: Intro to the SECOND main character of this story, followed by the first level, where we meet the main villain! **


	2. French Quarter: The Back Stoop

**Disclaimer: PoM and VV do not belong to me.**

**I reread the last chapter and thought, 'Did I really write this?' I didn't really put my full effort into it, so this time, no mercy!**

"...wake...hey...wake up...Are you hearing me, buddy? I said wake up!"

Skipper groaned, squinted his eyes open, and immediately wished he hadn't. The light from wherever they were was far too blinding. Even so, the lights were dim, so it didn't take long for him to recover. Slowly the leader's eyes peeled open, then widened in pure shock of the thing above him, coaxing him into waking. The thing was ten inches tall, made of burlap, and very, _very_ familiar.

The voodoo doll.

With a start, Skipper jumped away from the doll, giving a shout of surprise. In response, the doll placed it's cloth hand over the leader penguin's beak, gazing at him with a combination of anger and worry and fear, "Do you WANT the monsters outside to know we're here?"

"Monsters?" It took Skipper a moment to absorb this, "Wait, what-?" It all came back to them. The argument. The robbery. His teammates disappearance. The weight of these tragic events crashed suddenly onto the penguin, who collapsed to the ground in shock, "Rico... Kowalski... Private... they-they're gone..."

The doll stared at him oddly, "Um, shouldn't you be more worried about the MONSTERS JUST OUTSIDE THE DOOR?" It gestured frantically to the outside. Before Skipper could come up with a response, though, a creepy, echoing voice passed through their ears. Well, Skipper's ear holes, anyway.

"Vince... Vince..." It called. Vince, as the doll's name seemed to be, tensed. He must have known the voice and, truthfully, it sounded familiar to Skipper as well, "I am Madame Charmaine, your creator. Find me, before it's too late!" Now Skipper recognized the voice. She was the woman kidnapped by the same fiends that took Private! "I am in the clutches of Kosmo the Inscrutable. Remember, you are a voodoo doll, so many things will not hurt you. Just beware of evil magic. Kosmo and his monsters can cause you great harm!"

Skipper interrupted, "Hold up, lady. What about my team?"

"Three penguins were exposed to the effects of the zombie dust. Two were teleported to different locations in the city. Find them, for they will help you wherever they can. The final penguin exposed was yourself. You, it seems, were able to absorb the magical energy. You will find it to be a great aid on your quest. The final penguin is with me. I will keep him safe," Skipper relaxed as Charmaine continued, "I will try to aid you both through the connection I share with Vince... but all depends on you two..." She went silent.

Vince stared blankly at the ceiling, "Um... okay," He then turned to Skipper, "This means we're going to have to go outside, doesn't it?"

* * *

Just outside the small shop was a patio. According to Vince, this was the safest way to exit Charmaine's Voodoo Shop. Even so, neither had any idea about the monsters roaming the back streets. Both stared at the wooden staircase in the back of the alleyway behind the shop, the only way out of the patio. They turned to each other.

Vince smirked, "See you at the top!" and before Skipper's eyes, jumped three stairs at a time minimum. Next to the stairwell was a railing, and Skipper's mind started working. He jumped, attempting to slide up most of the pole before shimmying the rest of the way up. What he didn't expect, though, was his flippers to start glowing as soon as they made contact with the rail. Nor did he expect the railing itself to fling him upward, flying past Vince just as he made it to the top. The doll stared, "What the heck?"

Skipper, meanwhile, hit a concrete wall headfirst. Behind him, Vince laughed, "Shut your pie-hole, dollface, or I'll shut it for you!" Skipper growled, pulling his head out of the wall. Vince stopped laughing suddenly and stared at him, "Now that's more like it!"

"No, it's just..." Vince struggled to find the words to convey his meaning, "You feel hurt, or anything?"

Skipper felt the top of his head, wondering for any obvious wounds Vince might have been pointing out, "Not really. Why?"

"After crashing into a wall like that, shouldn't you be... you know, hurt?" Vince cringed, "I thought that's how it works for living creatures."

"Normally," the penguin agreed, "Hmm... maybe it has something to do with that zombie dust stuff Charmaine was yapping about?"

Vince looked annoyed at the blunt disrespect for his creator, but managed to mutter, "C'mon, let's get moving," Without losing his cool. Skipper shrugged at the sudden change of attitude, but decided it had nothing to do with him. Doll emotions must work differently from human emotions, right?

Just ahead were some frog-like creatures, with... fly wings on their backs. Skipper and Vince both shuttered at the sight.

"Just what kind of freak are we dealing with?" Vince wondered. Skipper also started to ponder about this 'Kosmo' guy Charmaine had mentioned. Before they could move, though, the monsters spotted them. It didn't take too long to defeat them -Skipper was trained in the martial arts and Vince was an indestructible doll. Vince wrinkled his face where his nose should have been, "Ew. Dead monster smell," Skipper rolled his eyes.

Beyond the next set of doors was a strange purple statuette. Charmaine's voice rang within their heads, "Skipper, pick it up," The penguin complied and, once he did, it vanished, absorbed into his body... and causing very random spazz attacks , "Look for more of these."

"Why?" Skipper asked, "So I can seizure to death?"

The comment actually amused the mysterious woman, "No. This is a voodoo icon. When in conjunction with Vince, each voodoo icon will give you a special power which allows you to defeat a multitude of enemies. Try it out up ahead."

The two shrugged and continued through the passageway to the toad-fly things on the other side. Skipper turned to Vince and concentrated energy upon the doll. The three pins in Vince's head flew out... and flew right back in, impaling him. Skipper gasped as the doll -and all the other enemies around them- fell to the ground. Then he got back up.

"Wow that was cool!" Vince grinned, and Skipper rolled his eyes, "Let's keep going."

Through the next gate was a plaza kind of an area, with a fountain in the middle and potted plants circling the area. The floor beneath their feet was checkered, with diaganol white and various blue squares. A blinding light from just in front of the fountain stoppe the duo in their tracks. Skipper covered his eyes. Vince didn't need to, considering one was glass and the other was a button.

A giant head materialized in the center of the plaza, the light dying down as it came into existance. A laugh, one normally heard from villans, echoed from his thin throat. The only distinguishable features he had were a strange beard and a pez hat. Vince grabbed Skipper by the arms, making sure to cover his beak, and subtly sidled to the side of the area, behind a potted plant.

"Tremble! Kneel!" The head roared, with a deep voice befitting an evil wizard, "It is I, Kosmo the Inscrutable!" Upon hearing this, Skipper desperately attempted to struggle out of Vince's hold and give that guy a piece of his mind. How Vince held on to him is still, to this day, an unknown mystery, "Behold the future master of the world! Who are these so-called champions, who dare oppose ME? Show yourself and face your mortal enemy!"

Vince, having enough of Skipper's struggling, sidestepped into the open, still holding onto Skipper.

Kosmo stared at them blankly for a moment before laughing, "HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! HA HA HA HA HA..." Vince and Skipper exchanged two annoyed and unamused glance with each other, "Madame Charmaine must be a fool..." Vince growled, and only Skipper was close enough to hear it. The sound was enough to frighten even the rats of his hometown! "To think a mere pile of cloth and his little birdy can defeat the likes of ME!"

"Hey boss," Another head materialized next to Kosmo's. Skipper recognized it as one of the thieves, "Where's the pickles?"

"H-how..." Kosmo was speechless, his voice losing that scary, supreme being-like touch. He sounded like a regular guy, "What are you doing in my evil vision?"

The minion replied stupidly, "I'm just makin' a samwich..."

"For cryin' out loud," A hand materialized next to Kosmo's head, "Be gone, minion!" The hand batted the man's head into a nearby wall, causing it to disappear. Kosmo turned back to the now extremely annoyed Vince and now free Skipper, "Where was I? Oh yeah... FOOLS!" The supreme tone came back, "How can you hope to save Madame Charmaine and her little penguin, when you face awesome power like... Hey! Wh-why are you looking at me like that?"

Vince, already annoyed, had finally had it with the mention of Charmaine. He pulled out from his own head a pin, and smirked evilly at Kosmo. Skipper, knowing what was going to happen, also smirked, taking a step back to get the whole view.

"Wh-what are you doing?" Vince's response was to prop the needle near his head. Kosmo's illusion shook, cowaring in fear. Skipper munched on a cookie from the cookie factory just behind them. With a final smirk, the needle went through Vince's head. A shockwave of voodoo energy went out, causing the illusion to explode. Skipper cheered like he just made a touchdown.

"Never mess with a voodoo doll, poindexter!" Vince scowled, then walked passed Skipper to get to the platforms behind him. As he climbed, he mumbled, "Freakin' idiot... dragging me out on a night like this. Might as well get this show on the road though... can't believe they want a ten inch voodoo doll to go be a hero..." From what Skipper could see, Vince was climbing into the cookie factory where he got the cookie he munched on. Sighing, the penguin followed behind.

When Skipper got inside, Vince was staring at a locked cargo hold door. He motioned for the penguin to join him, "I think this is the best way out. Only problem is, that scale over there opens it... and I'm a lightweight..." To demonstrate, Vince jumped upon the scale. The door moved up a crack... barely enough for Skipper to get through. Even so, how would Vince follow?

The penguin pondered the situation, then noticed the empty flour sacks on the floor, "Hey, wouldn't a full sack work?" He held up the empty cloth. Vince scratched his head.

"But where would we get one of those? I haven't seen any. Well, actually, I have, but it's stuck," Vince lead Skipper back up the metal ramp, to a shoot with a flour bag stuck in it. Skipper surveyed his surroundings. Not far was a poorly placed mixer, poorly placed because anyone could simply fall in... good thing it was off, or someone could get hurt...

...lightbulb.

"Vince, how do you think we turn this on?" In reply, the doll pointed out a lever on the far side of the room. The penguin wasted no time in scrambling over and Vince, though confused, followed after him. It took the both of them to push down the firmly-stuck lever, but once they did, the mixer turned on at high speed.

Now overlooking it, Vince asked, "So, what's your plan?"

"This," Skipper pushed Vince into the mixer... and winced as he was chopped to pieces, screaming the entire time. The penguin's theory worked, though. Once the wave of magical energy went out, the firmly stuck bag of flour plopped to the metal overhang, causing a thump. Skipper grinned, picking up, and hauling it down the ramp.

Just below the mixer, Vince, fully reformed, popped out and called, "I'm okay!" He then noticed the open hanger door and the penguin waiting atop the pipe, "Gee, thanks for that. You're a wonderful pal, ya know?"

"Yeah, yeah," Skipper waved him off, "At least I got us through. Besides, I picked up a new voodoo power... um, I think Charmaine called it 'Anvil Hat'. Most likely will drop an anvil on your head."

"Lovely," Vince remarked dryly, passing him to get through the pipes into the next area. Skipper chuckled before following after.

**I KNOW I did a better job on this one. Though, maybe that's because there's more action to work with. Kosmo is hilarious, though. Too stupid and full of himself to be a dedicated bad guy. He'd make a good minion, though... anyhow, I kind of personified Vince as overprotective of Charmaine... he's not really like that... I just inferred it.**

**Next Chapter: Giant Piggy Bank of Doom!...doom...**


	3. French Quarter: The Docks

**Disclaimer: PoM and VV do not belong to me.**

**Warning: Voodoo doll abuse**

Skipper took a deep breath as he came to the end of the pipe, "Mm... smell that freshly caught fish? That salty night air?" A melancholy smile, almost mournful, adorned his beak, "I sure wish my men could see this..."

"Yeah, yeah, fish stink, can we just go already?" The doll glared and it took a moment for Skipper to realize that Vince hadn't been glaring at him, but at the watery wonder behind him.

"What?" The leader challenged, "Afraid of a little water?"

Someone clearing their throat saved Vince the trouble of responding with something clever and convincing, "Are you two done with your little spat? Good, now..." He cleared his throat again, and this time spoke with the deep wizard voice, "Still with us, little birdy and dolly? Most impressive," The two addressed figures glared at him, "but you'll never make it past..." Here, a pause for dramatic effect, "The Piggy Bank of Doom! DOOOOOOM!" Kosmo coughed as his illusion faded into the background. Vince and Skipper exchanged a glance before checking out this so-called 'Piggy Bank of Doom!'.

The thing was pink, disgustingly oversized and... asleep. Vince kicked it once, but all it did was look up in annoyance and fall back asleep. He snorted, "This must be the LAZIEST monster ever! We're gonna have to get it to move if we want to get past."

"Sure," The leader was already scanning the area for anything that might be of use to them, "and I think I found out waker upper," Skipper pointed out a pair of cymbals lying on the docks below... just across a narrow gap of water that could easily be jumped. Vince's eyes widened in panic.

"Oh, no," He waved his arms, acting angry, "I'm not wasting my precious time going down there! You do it! You're the penguin!" Vince crossed his arms and huffed, looking away.

Skipper, who was phobic of needles himself, recognized the behavior and smirked, "Yup, definitely afraid of water," He patted his companion's back, stating, "Don't worry about it, amigo. I'll take it from here," Performing a front flip, Skipper flung himself past a pole and grabbed onto it with his flipper, swinging down the docks towards the ground. Instead of simply landing on the ground, though, he stopped midway and propelled himself onto the dock, landing in front of the cymbals. Skipper smirked, "Too easy."

"Look out!" A full three-sixty turn after the yell, Skipper found himself snout-to-beak with an alligator man. It growled, jumping forward in attempt to smash the penguin with it's fists. Skipper neatly dodged the attempt, and when the fists swung around to knock him, he tucked and rolled underneath the arm, circling around, and sliced downward to bring his flipper down on the hard-scaled lizard's back.

Not far from here, Fingers and Jeb were talking to a skeleton man with a jazz trumpet in his hands. All three looked up as a loud, pained scream echoed through the air. The three men shrugged, and returned to their business.

Skipper shook his throbbing flipper, not aware that, if it was broken, the shaking would have made it worse. Far above the docks, Vince's one glass eye narrowed as the shaken flipper began radiating a dull blue, unbeknownst to it's owner. All Skipper's attention was focused on the alligator man. Then he looked past him and saw Vince atop the docks. Then the alligator. Then Vince. Then back to the alligator. He smirked.

"Hey, lizard breath!" Skipper taunted, "Such a coward, fighting dirty. Come at me, head on!" The alligator, not to bright, growled loudly and charged. Skipper's eyes narrowed as he ducked, "Wait for it. Wait for it... now!"

He ran up to the lizard and flipper over him, using his back as leverage to get a high jump. Once in the air, he projected with his flippers a blue orb. It floated right above Vince, who groaned, "Oh, you have got to be-" Whatever he was about to say next was cut off by an anvil striking his head. The resulting wave of magic flew into the alligator man, who gasped as he suddenly lowered to the ground, smashed.

Approximately five minutes later, Skipper rejoined Vince on the high risen docks. Needless to say, the voodoo doll was not happy to see him.

"What the heck was that?" Vince snapped, "You could give me a little warning next time."

Skipper, unamused, frowned, "A little warning."

"Huh-? AH!" Vince didn't think to dodge as another anvil hit his head, hard. Skipper shook his head, mumbling about getting new powers, and how 'Anvil Hat' was already getting old. Vince, begrudgingly, followed behind the penguin as they approached the pig. Skipper smashed the cymbals together. The pig's eyes snapped open.

Skipper and Vince then realized a fatal flaw in their plan: They hadn't thought of a way to actually _beat _the thing after they'd awaken it. Upon the duo revelation, they exchanged a panicked glance and did what anyone being chased by a giant pig-monster would do: They ran for their short little lives. Upon running, Skipper halted upon noticing something, "Hey, isn't this a-?"

"No time for that, run!" Vince grabbed his wing and pulled Skipper forward, while the penguin's eyes traced the wires coming from the odd spot on the walkway to a giant holding mechanism... and within the grasp of that mechanism was a giant safe. After a moment of thought, Skipper stopped again, "What did I just say?" Vince stopped to try to force him to run again.

Skipper's eyes watched the beast, as he mumbled, "Wait for it... wait for it... now!" He threw Vince down onto the floor and jumped away. The giant piggy bank stepped onto the strangely colored board, and the safe came crashing down... onto Vince. Skipper winced.

It did the trick, though. After the thing disintegrated into zombie dust (which Vince gathered in some special sack he had), and Skipper got a new power, the duo headed onward. Not before Vince threw Skipper over the dock and into the water below as revenge for throwing him underneath a giant safe, of course.

Vince looked back at where the Piggy Bank of Doom had been crushed. He snorted, "What, no cash? Some piggy back..."

**You having fun with this? I am. Vince will be painfully mauled SO many times before this stories over. And I think a doll that would sink in water would be afraid of said water, don't you?**


	4. French Quarter: Main Street

**Disclaimer: PoM and VV do not belong to me.**

Exiting the docks ended up with the unlikely duo on the far side of a city street. Skipper blinked, staring in confusion at a rocket stuck in the wall with flames still roaring from it's ignition. Behind him, Vince stared at a gaping hole in the wall, noting the smoking edges and massive amount of rockets behind it. Didn't take a genius to realize what happened there.

"_There are gates that must fall if you are to continue your quest," _Charmaine forewarned, _"Two surely gas pumps rule this intersection. Be careful! They will do their best to stop you."_

Commuting down the road itself was easy, in spite of Charmaine's warning. About halfway down, Vince stopped, squinting his one good eye to get a better view of something moving up a flight of stairs. He then looked back. Skipper had continued on without him... no surprise. Shrugging, Vince hopped up the stairwell, to a center of a plaza area. Behind him unknown gates slid shut. Dozens of Fly-Frogs poured out from all directions.

Vince stared straight ahead, "Oh, wonderful..."

Meanwhile, far up the road, Skipper was hiding behind a trash can. He turned to Vince, "Okay, we need to come up with a plan of- Vince?" He looked around in confusion, "Vince? Oh well," The penguin shrugged. Approaching the gas pumps, Skipper barely had the time to dodge as the pumps began throwing random things at him. Using the skills that made him a penguin commando made it a simple task to dodge the debris, "Hey, what's your problem?" He snapped at them.

"What's your problem, short stuff?" One snapped right back. The other chuckled.

Skipper growled, "I have no time for this. Let's just blow them up!" Skipper produced the magical blue orb in his flippers, turning it several times in his grasp. Both gas pumps' widened their eyes in fear as the blue orb soared upward from Skipper's wings... and backwards, into the street alleyways. Skipper slapped his forehead as the formerly cowering pumps laughed, "Right. I need Vince. Better go find him."

Several blocks down, Vince was currently backing away from the crowd of strange Fly-Frog mutations, "Now, now..." Vince grinned, "Why don't we all just have a nice, calming talk over tea and scones?" Vince smiled meekly. The Fly-Frogs narrowed their eyes and began closing in on him. Vince covered his face with his hands. Before he could scream, though, a blue orb descended from the sky at a rapid speed. Vince stared at it, "Oh yeah... AHH!" The blue orb materialized into a chain saw, successfully slicing Vince into a dozen little pieces. The magic flowed. All the Fly-Frogs also screamed in horror as their flesh was torn into pieces.

Just as the gates opened, Skipper entered the plaza, "What are you doing lying around, soldier? We've got work to- Oh, you found a voodoo icon," Skipper absorbed it, either missing or ignoring the glare he got from Vince when he slapped him across the back of the head, "Well done. Now, how do you propose we take on those gas pumps?"

"Gas..." Skipper could see the light bulb going off in Vince's head, "You stall them! I have an idea!"

Skipper frowned as Vince bolted down the long, winding city road, "Wait... what?"

"Just trust me!"

The penguin didn't really have a choice. He made his way back up to the square, where the pumps had gotten no politer.

"Hey, short stuff. Back for more?" One taunted, launching a wrench at the penguin. Skipper neatly dodged it. The taunts and throwing and dodging just continued for a while. Skipper glanced back down the alleyway. Where was Vince? The glance cost him precious time. A wrench hit him square in the cheek. Skipper growled.

The pumps laughed loudly and obnoxiously, "How'd ya like that, short stuff?" the leader of the pumps taunted, "Yer about as tough as a cupcake, bird brain!" Now, rest assured, Skipper did have an incredibly witty and amazing comeback planned. He really did. He just never got the chance to use it.

"Sorry I'm late," Vince hopped down from some unseen ledge, "Took me a while to figure out how to do this," Skipper glanced back at Vince, whom he was shocked to see was on fire. Apparently voodoo dolls were as fire-proof as they were not water-proof. The pumps obviously didn't think highly of the doll, laughing in his face. Vince merely stepped up to the pumps and touched the puddle of gas surrounding them.

The pumps continued laughing until one of them smelled smoke. They both became alarmed at the fire, tried to get away, then remembered that they were gas pumps and screamed as they exploded into lots and lots of pieces, flying all over the square, "Someone's been sloppy with the gas," Vince noted with a smirk, doing a little victory dance.

"Couldn't have happened to two nicer guys," Skipper agreed, dodging a gas can that landed along with the other debris. Then the heavier stuff came on. Vince grabbed Skipper and pulled him away from the large falling metal. There, in the metal, was the leader of the pumps... well, his face at least. He glared up at them.

"I'm gonna kick your butts, wimps!" The pump stated meekly.

Skipper shook his head and walked away. Vince sighed, before following. The two approached a large cement roller parked to the side of the gas pumps' square, "Hmm... out of gas," He noticed.

"Maybe we can use this!" Vince carried over the gas can dropped by the pumps. Working together, the duo filled the tank and climbed to the top of the roller. Just up ahead was the gate Madam Charmaine said must fall. Between them and that was the beheaded gas pump, "This is gonna be fun," The doll smirked evilly, starting the machine. Skipper took the wheel and Vince moved to work the petals.

"You're not so tough," The gas pump snapped as they started the vehicle.

Skipper just smirked at him. The giant machine started moving

"I... rule!" He yelled, only to get flattened seconds later by the oncoming roller.

Vince cupped his hand over where his ear would be if he had one, "I'm sorry? Speak up, I can't hear you..." The doll then turned to continue working the petals, only to notice Skipper abandoning ship. Upon noticing they were about to crash into the gate himself, he jumped off the roller with a quick, "Ahh!" The gateway was now open. Vince glared at Skipper.

"What?" The penguin asked. Vince just sighed and moved forward, with the Skipper following. Behind them, the crushed gas pump's eyes looked around quickly, wondering just what had happened.

**...okay. There you go. Hope you liked it.**


	5. French Quarter: The Square

**Disclaimer: PoM and VV do not belong to me.**

Skipper stared downward into the seemingly bottomless crack, "How far down do you think this thing goes?"

"Not sure," Vince responded, also staring down the hole, "Still, I don't think it'd be a good idea to fall down. You might not be able to climb back up."

"And you?"

"Me? I've got voodoo powers, I really have no need to worry. You, on the other hand..."

Skipper frowned, "Yeah, yeah. So how come neither Charmaine nor the big-headed wizard have said anything to us yet?"

Vince stroked his burlap chin, "There's a lot of concentrated zombie dust in the area... that could be interfering with their powers..."

"You know nothing about what you're talking about, do you?"

"Not really."

"Splendid," Skipper took a look around, eventually bringing his gaze upon a skeleton man standing guard in front of the museum, "Hey, that guy might know something. Let's go interrogate him."

Vince sighed, but, knowing he really couldn't argue, ran after Skipper, who had jumped on the skeleton man's chest and began questioning him intensely. Maybe it was because he was already dead, but Skull Man didn't really seem to mind the troublesome penguin. Vince pulled Skipper off of him, looking him in his empty eye-sockets. He suppressed a shiver, "Excuse us, pal, but we're looking' for someone. A few someones, actually. A few penguins and a tall lady, the magical type, most likely bound from head to foot. See anyone like that?"

"Hmm," The Skull Man paused in thought, "Museum's got many answers. Might have yours, who knows?" He then set a glare on Skipper, "Which I might have told you had you not been so rude."

"Blah, blah, can you let us in or not, bone-brain?" Skipper snapped.

The deep-voiced skeleton turned his attention to Vince, "Tell ya what. I'll let you in for a song."

"A song?" Vince blinked, "Isn't this a science museum?"

The Skull Man frowned, "Hey, this is the 'Big Easy'. C'mon, I just want someone to jam with."

"Great," Skipper responded, "A hippie. How about we beat him up and steal his keys?"

Vince scowled, leading Skipper away from the skeleton, "I don't see how that will help. Can't you think of anything besides violence?" Skipper, of course, responded by conjuring an alien ship to blow Vince up. Once he respawned, Vince was not amused, "Oh, ha-ha."

Later, Vince and Skipper were walking the alleyways of the Quarter, having found a few voodoo icons along the way, "It's hopeless," Vince sighed, "Even if we HAD any musical instruments, we wouldn't know how to play them!"

"I think we passed a jazz club," Skipper yawned, "Can't be sure, though."

"Great, now if only we had- an instrument..." Skipper glanced at his partner when he trailed off, then followed his gaze to the window of the pawn shop. Sitting for display on its window sill was a brass trumpet, brand new and very expensive. Vince looked at the price tag, "Eish. Where are we gonna get THAT kind of money?"

Skipper's gaze shifted to the garbage cans behind Vince, where a mask with a hole in one of the eyes -just big enough for Vince's glass eye- lay in the garbage. Then his gaze shifted to the poster for a costume ball behind it. Back to Vince. Back to the mask. Back to Vince again. Back to the mask again. Smirk.

"What? Why are you- hey! Stop! STOP!"

"I hate you..." Vince glared as he spoke this. Now the doll was dressed in the mask, as well as an improvised dress Skipper had sewn from random rags. Skipper rolled his eyes as he put the finishing touches on the dress, tying it a little too tightly, causing Vince to gasp in surprise. Skipper smirked.

"Just go in there and be the best lady you can be!" Skipper's smirk turned into an encouraging grin, prompting the doll to, reluctantly, enter the costume ball. First there was silence. Then loud applause. Five minutes later, Vince walked out with a banded-together stack of green paper.

He inhaled, "Ah... freshly minted fake money."

"...Right. Now let's go get that trumpet for the hippie skeleton," The duo found their way back to the back alleyway and Vince purchased the trumpet. A few blows revealed Vince knew as much about playing as he had predicted: None. The duo then proceeded to the jazz club, where Vince went in alone.

A group of people in berets turned around and stared at the doll, "Uh, hello. Does anyone know how to play the trumpet?"

Several hours later, Vince walked out, wearing a beret and a pair of sunglasses. He smirked at Skipper, who frowned at him, "Well?"

"Like, let's shake it, Daddy-o."

"Whatever," The two walked over to the Skull Man, who Vince demonstrated his new-found jazz playing skills to. The skeleton, obviously pleased, started playing along. Skipper stared in curiosity, "Uh, how do you play without lungs?" He was promptly ignored.

The Skull Man nodded at Vince, "Nice. Warms my heart," He patted his chest, then shrugged, "Wherever it is. I'll let you in now, but beware. The boss is in a bad mood today."

"Boss?" Skipper shook his head, "Great. Prepare for battle Vince."

The voodoo doll looked back at him, "What makes you so sure we'll be fighting him?"

"In the video games Private used to play, the boss is ALWAYS a really hard enemy. Don't say I didn't warn you!" Skipper yelled after Vince as the doll completely ignored his warning and marched in. Skipper marched in after him, wondering just what kind of enemy they were going to be fighting.

**Yes. Another chapter of doom. The boss is next, but BEWARE! He might eat your head... I'd wear protective head gear if I were you...**


	6. French Quarter: The Bone Goliath

**Disclaimer: PoM and VV do not belong to me.**

**Why haven't I updated yet? This isn't hard to write. It's mostly something to do.**

The moment they stepped inside, it started down-pouring.

"Well, that's odd," Skipper commented. He stepped outside, and the rain stopped. He stepped back in, and the rain started again. Both doll and penguin stared, confused, at the outside, before Skipper decided it didn't effect them, because it wasn't drowning Vince quite yet. Vince chalked it up to Kosmo using voodoo magic to try and create some epic effect and let it be.

Lightning and thunder crashed as they climbed the not-so-long stairwell to the inside of the museum. Lightning flashed, silhouetting the figure of a large monster. Skipper flinched. Vince gasped in shock. When the lightning died down, however, all that was left was the giant-sized remains of a Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Vince sighed, "Oh, it's just a pile of bones..."

"Yeah, yeah, skeletons, history, great," Skipper mumbled, not really paying attention, "Now where's this 'Boss' character? I want to get this fight over with," A rare thing for Skipper to say, indeed, but with lives on the line, even he knew better than to linger for too long.

The doll next to him crossed his thin arms and rolled his one glass eye, "And what makes you so sure we'll be fighting this 'Boss' guy anyways?"

"The heroes ALWAYS fight the Boss!" Skipper insisted, "It's a classic video game tradition! Don't you know anything?"

"I've been alive for a little over thirty minutes," Vince pointed out. Skipper looked behind him, to a nearby clock. A little over a half-hour had passed after they first left. Huh, it hadn't felt that long...

Skipper grumbled, "Remind me to get a watch..." Before stepping closer to the edge to get a better view of the museum. Somehow, a bottomless pit had formed between them and the giant skeleton. On the little platforms left, there was no sign of any living creature.

Then, of course, things went to heck.

This time, when Kosmo appeared, he didn't say anything. A nice change in pace for the heroes. He just laughed and zapped the skeleton with his eyes. Despite only being a half-hour old, Vince recognized the voodoo magic involved. The door behind them shut and locked. The fossil shook, trying to work some feeling into itself, before somehow seeing the heroes with its eye-less head and roaring loudly.

"This isn't good..." Skipper figured as he was tossed on his back. The doll next to him glared.

"Ya think?"

The duo dodged to the left as the monster decided to take a sweep at them with it's tail. A familiar voice then echoed in their heads, _"You must bring the lightning inside. Find the Zap Hat and find a way to bring the lightning down, onto Vince. It will work. Really!"_

"Thanks!" Skipper shouted, before spotting a metal bowl with three rods sticking out of it. The Zap Hat, he guessed, "Vince! Secure that hat!" He skimmed the room with analytic eyes, finally, after a moment, finding the mechanism he was looking for. A way to open the window. A switch, not too far above him.

Vince nodded and ran the other way, towards the hat. The Bone Goliath took more interest in Vince, the moving target, and swept him with it's tail. He barely jumped over it.

With the monster thoroughly distracted, Skipper bound from pillar to pillar, slowly making his way to the top of the room. He flipped off the pillar to the top of a set of broken stairs, looking down and seeing the monster smash it's tail down on Vince. He ran forward and pulled the switch down. As he had expected, one of the windows on the glass dome roof opened.

Vince jumped back as a flood of water from where the roof opened nearly washed him away, "Hey! Be careful!"

Skipper purposely ignored Vince and ran for another switch. He wasn't quite sure what this one would do, but it had to do something useful, right? He slid as fast as he could on his belly, noting too late that the monster was leaning forward and taking a bite out of the scaffolding. Luckily, not the section he was on, but the section right next to it. Unable to stop his forward momentum, he tumbled over the edge of the scaffolding.

Luckily, he had a partner looking out for him. A pebble hit the monster's head before it could finish off the lead penguin and caught it's short attention span. It turned around, fully intent on munching on Vince, who darted through the rain, making a note to kill Skipper later, and hopping onto a small island.

Skipper pulled himself back up, saluted Vince and hopped past the broken section of scaffolding. The next switch pulled out some sort of apparatus, positioning it directly over a small dome. It buzzed, charged with electricity.

Back on the scaffolding, one final switch remained.

While Vince kept the monster busy with pebbles, he also maneuvered across the islands, finally reaching the Zap Hat. He set the pebbles down and placed the bowl-shaped thing upon his voodoo head, "I got the hat! Now what?"

"Head back to the start! I'll meet you there!" Skipper shouted as he took a running start over two broken scaffolding, double jumping over them. Vince looked to the space he had to cover -several islands, a small rainy area and a long stretch of walkway- and sighed.

Skipper hopped from area to area, finally reaching the final switch. His wings latched onto the switch and pulled down hard. It didn't budge. Cursing under his breath, Skipper hopped onto the switch, jumping up and down. When that failed, he sighed, and the switch went down under his feet, sending him tumbling. The dome-like thing under the apparatus opened, revealed to be a part of the apparatus itself. Vince hopped over towards it, finally having made it back. Skipper jumped down next to him, landing perfectly despite the fact that the shock would have broken his little body. Before Vince could comment on this, he was pushed towards the apparatus, "Come on! Get inside!"

"Okay, okay. But why would I need to- AHH!" Vince screamed as electricity coursed through his body. The Bone Goliath screamed as the same pain and organ-damaging lightning went through him. Despite the fact that he doesn't have any organs, it still somehow killed him, causing him to tumble into the bottomless pit, disappearing from sight.

Skipper stared down, "And next time, STAY EXTINCT!" He shouted. He then turned to the ashes where a voodoo doll once stood. A bright flash of light, and a very angry looking voodoo doll stood there once again, "Don't look at me like that," the Skipper snorted, "Without me, you wouldn't have been able to beat that thing!"

"Without you, I probably wouldn't be dying every three minutes," Vince grumbled, before looking down into the pit, "Hey, what's that?"

A voodoo icon spun in mid-air over a pipe... their only way out of here, considering everything else was locked down. The thundering of rain on the glass dome came to a sudden stop, causing them both to look up. The voodoo magic was cleared out of this area, either all used up or gathered by Vince. The two heroes exchanged a glance, nodded and jumped.

**There. The end... of part one. Next time: Roachfort! Apparently an old roach city...**


	7. Roachfort: The Main Area and Tunnel

**Disclaimer: PoM and VV do not belong to me.**

* * *

The two heroes stared at the pipe. It was long, dark and directed downward at a ninety-degree angle. Skipper gulped, turned to Vince, and smiled suddenly. Vince, too preoccupied staring down the hole, did not notice Skipper sneaking behind him until a gentle wing calmly pushed him off balance, sending him plummeting into the pipe. Skipper then jumped in after him.

Vince turned around, "I hate you."

"I know," The Skipper responded. They continued falling for what felt like a long time. Though in the actual time frame, it was only a few minutes. Finally, the saw a light at the end of the tunnel, quite literally. The small pipe then expanded into a gigantic room, complete with a hard, metallic landing pad. Vince landed first, wincing at the contact of hard metal on his burlap skin, though of course not dying. He winced again when Skipper landed on his back, completely unharmed, "Huh. Well that was anti-climatic."

Vince muttered something unintelligible, muffled by the concrete. Skipper chose to ignore it.

"Hey, you two! Whataya think you're doing?" A scratchy, almost feminine voice rang out. From the heroes left entered an old woman turtle, wearing a lab coat and a grouchy scowl, "Do you know how expensive that equipment is! If you broke that, it may have taken YEARS to replace it!"

"Yeah... well, anyways, can you help us? We're looking for a magical lady, really tall, bound in chains from head to foot," Vince pointed to his head and feet to emphasize his point, "You seen one?"

"Hmm... Maybe... I'll tell you what. You give me something I want, I'll give you something you want. You scratch my shell, I scratch yours, you feel me?" She winked at the two.

Vince winced, "I hope not..." His bluntness was rewarded by an elbow ramming into his non-existent stomach. Skipper smiled politely at the old cro- err, turtle.

"We'd be honored to help you, ma'am," He bowed his head in respect.

The turtle smiled, "Why, what a gentleman. Please, right this way," The old turtle led them into a laboratory sort of area. She led them over to a chalkboard, where a blueprint lay out in all detail for the consumer's ease. Both Skipper and Vince stared as the turtle explained, "These are the plans to a very complex and highly advanced machine I am constructing. Only one of my intellect could possibly grasp the theories involved-"

"It's a balloon," Skipper interrupted.

"...Yeah."

Continuing on where Skipper left off, Vince stated, "It looks like you'll need some cloth for the balloon, a propeller to steer, and gas for the burner."

"...Yeah."

"Sheesh," Skipper complained, "Kowalski could come up with something twice as useful in half the time without these materials."

"Kowalski? You know him?" The turtle blinked in obvious surprise.

Skipper, too, blinked, though it was more in shock than surprise, "You know Kowalski?" He shook his head, "Sheesh, he could've told us he was famous."

"Oh, he's not," The turtle shook her head, "He was here not too long ago. About... half an hour, he showed up on my doorstep, just like you two. Except instead of falling out of nowhere, he just kind of showed up. No notice, no nothing. At least I could hear bug-eye screaming in the pipes."

Vince rolled his glass eye, while Skipper asked about Kowalski's presence. The turtle woman -if she could really be called a woman- thought about this for a moment.

"Ah, let's see. Showed up randomly, wasted space, exploding peanut jars... oh yeah! He got bored and took off. I imagine he's still in my old lab, looking at my old inventions. Probably.

"So how do we get there?"

The turtle stroked her chin, "Well..." She jumped upward and pulled down a retractable map, speaking nonsense as quickly as she could. When she finished, she turned to the two ten0inch heroes, both staring at her with wide, unbelieving eyes, "Did you get all that?" She asked as she sent the retractable map back up.

Vince's glass eye spun around in little circles. Skipper, whom had tilted his head to the left in confusion, spoke, "Er... not really-"

"Great," The turtle grabbed them both by the scruffs of their non-existent necks and threw them out of the lab, onto a large metal grating, "Now, go get that stuff. And whatever you do, don't make any loud noises in the Main Area here... bye!" And with that, the turtle retreated back into her lab. Skipper and Vince exchanged a glance.

"What great hospitality," Skipper brushed himself off, watching Vince get up, "Did you even get a word in edgewise?"

"I think the writer thought enough about me to give me ONE line..." Vince mumbled, "Now, do you remember her directions?"

The Skipper scoffed, "REMEMBER them? I couldn't even hear them! Let's just jump off this platform and hope we make it out alive," And before Vince could get a word in edgewise, Skipper took a nose dive off the balcony like area. Vince, panicked, dove off after him, only to see at the last moment that the penguin was climbing down using the rocks. Vince groaned, knowing the pain coming his way, and collided in a belly-flop with the metal grating, opening his eyes only to see that he was protected by this very grating from a bed of spikes. Skipper shook his head, "Get up, soldier! We have people to rescue!" and slid away on his belly.

Vince groaned, "I REALLY need to re-negotiate that contract..."

* * *

_Two of the items you seek are beyond blocked passageways. There are monsters you can trick into helping you._

"Yeah, thanks," Vince called up to nowhere, as he usually did in response to Charmaine's cryptic messages. Keyword cryptic, because there were no monsters in sight of the two ten foot warriors. Then, as almost expected, big-headed Kosmo appeared.

The large head jeered at them, "Ha! You little morons will NEVER be able to get past I cooked up down here! Why don't you just turn around and go home like the little chickens you are!" He jeered, before he disappeared, quivering in fear, when Vince removed one of his pins. The doll scoffed and took off.

There were five doors, two of which were blocked. The paths they needed to go down: One clearly identified as the propeller room, the other most likely the old lab. One lead back to the lab, which lead them being tossed over the edge of the balcony again, while one of the others lead to a room with two wheels and a lot of water. But hey, at least they got a voodoo power out of that first one.

The final passage lead to another room. This one had two levers, one of which hidden behind a grate. Vince pulled the first one, for them to be alerted by Charmaine that the 'wheels are turning'. Quickly deciphering this message, they headed back to the water wheel room, where they flipped another switch. This switch, they quickly realized, opened the grate, where they pulled yet another switch.

"This is getting monotonous," Vince complained.

Skipper rolled his eyes and went back into the main tunnel, where he climbed downward destined platforms to reach the top of another area. This area held only another switch, which made Vince groan. Again, he was thoroughly ignored. With the switch pulled, several trapdoors opened, allowing for the escape of some armadillos which exploded. Thankfully it was Vince that exploded, not Skipper.

Vince, once again, groaned, "I REALLY, REALLY need to re-negotiate that contract!"

"Get off your burlap, soldier! We've got to move ahead!" Vince stared upward, to see the two blocked passageways had now been uncovered.

"How did you-?"

"Those armadillos were idiots. They just rolled into the doors and blew them up!" Skipper turned around, "Hmm, we'll need to move quickly. I vote we split up. You take the Propeller Chamber, I'll take the lab. MOVE OUT!"

Skipper slid off without another word. Sighing, and praying there was no water in the next chamber, Vince moved on, into the broken doorway. Behind him, several armadillos rolled into walls, exploding pointlessly.

* * *

…

**Goodbe...**


End file.
